Credit for Cancelled Free Amex flight

[Nicholas Wood]

Hi All,

So about 2 weeks before everything in VIC started to turn pear shaped I redeemed my free Amex flight BNE-MEL for the weekend of 4th October hoping to attend an event. Following the redemption I cancelled my AMEX card which was due for renewal with obvious uncertainty re Virgin, Velocity, and flying in general.

Obviously I won't be flying into VIC any time soon and wondering if anyone is aware of my options regarding a credit for this flight? Are Virgin likely to issue a travel bank to the value of my original flight or am I best to pick a date at some point in 2021 and request my flight be changed to future dates?

Cheers for any advice!

 

[MH_fan]

I had my Velocity Amex flights in June cancelled by VA due to the border closures. I rang Amex but they redirected me to VA, saying that VA deals with it now especially since the tickets had been issued. Anyway, I was told by VA that those flights are "queued for action" once VA is out of administration, which should be next month The value of the cancelled flights will be put into credit (possibly travelbank) which we can then use.

 

[nickykim]

I have the return portion of a cancelled Amex redemption flight owing - I haven't checked recently but right from the start I could see it sitting in my Velocity account as a weird non-detailed booking for October 2020. I will contact Virgin at some stage in September to double check what will happen next...

 

[nickykim]

After some messing around - I have a replacement flight booked for September 2021. Amex are charging $40 for this change! I couldn’t be bothered making everybody unhappy and spending 30 minutes of my time arguing that this charge shouldn’t apply.

 

[blackcat20]

I had my Velocity Amex flights in June cancelled by VA due to the border closures. I rang Amex but they redirected me to VA, saying that VA deals with it now especially since the tickets had been issued. Anyway, I was told by VA that those flights are "queued for action" once VA is out of administration, which should be next month The value of the cancelled flights will be put into credit (possibly travelbank) which we can then use.

We were given a similar spiel, after originally being told the flight would be returned to credit within six weeks (an April booking). I'll be interested to see if it returns a as a "free flight" or as a credit for what we booked.

 

[MH_fan]

Looks it's time for me to chase this up...

 

[nickykim]

I think my flight was more problematic because I had already used the first flight. I was told that I needed to sort this out before the beginning of October and if I didn’t the flight would be lost...

 

[blackcat20]

Just received an email stating that our comp flight has been reinstated, so we now have two to use by the end of our Amex year.

 

[MH_fan]

I got the email from them this morning. They've re-instated the 2 that were affected by the border closures and I have a 3rd one for my new anniversary year. All of them have to be used by Sep next year.

 

[Ausbt]

Did anyone get this email regarding the Amex Velocity Platinum card? Interesting. Well, I can certainly spend $375 on wine. I'd prefer to spend it on a 777 to LAX or a 330 to NRT but yeah...

Changes to your complimentary flight extension​

We know that your annual complimentary flight on Virgin Australia is one of the things you love about your American Express Velocity Platinum Card. With the continued uncertainty about travel this year we extended the expiry of your complimentary flight to 31 March 2021, but we know for many of you, the time still isn't right to travel. So that you can get the most out of the benefits that come with your Card, as a once off, we're replacing your complimentary Virgin Australia domestic flight with a credit worth up to $375 to spend with Virgin Australia, Virgin Wines and the Velocity Wine Store by Laithwaite's by 31st of March 2021. To activate, simply click the link below and save the offer to your Card. Once you've saved the offer to your Card, the credit of up to $375 will be applied when you spend at Virgin Australia, Virgin Wines or the Velocity Wine Store by Laithwaite's1. Whether you are planning to fly again soon or shopping at the wine store for yourself or for your family and friends, we want you to be able to enjoy the benefits that come with your Card.​

 

[toowongman]

Did anyone get this email regarding the Amex Velocity Platinum card? Interesting. Well, I can certainly spend $375 on wine.

​

Yeah, four of us. Christmas and NYE will be very well provisioned.

 

[stig_aus]

Currently going back and forth with AMEX who are telling me to contact VA even though VA is pretty adamant to only contact them within 72 hours of travelling. Apparently VA will have all the details of any credits, but I seriously doubt they will have any idea regarding the detail of this. Oh well, I'll update as I know more.

I wish I had of just got $375 to spend at the wine store to be honest...

 

[Ausbt]

I ended up booking a flight and took advantage of some very cheap J fares SYD-MEL. The $375 credit was applied to my account the day after the spend, so that's good. While we are throwing out the bouquets, Amex also credited me for a random Uber charge that does not appear in either my Uber account or Uber Eats (which I never use anyway). I always wonder if Amex gets the money back from the merchant though, I really hope they don't wear the cost of these sorts of things. Seems to come up from time-to-time which really makes me wonder about these types of merchants and their subscribers who might be putting through fake transactions.

 

[stig_aus]

So I just cancelled my AMEX flight and was told I should get the redemption certificate credited back to my AMEX account in 4 weeks. I asked about expiry and the staff at VA said it should be valid for 12 months (meaning I would then have 2 redemption flights as my membership year ticks over in Jan) but to check with AMEX.

Does anyone know how to check in AMEX online to see how many redemption flights you have available?

 

[Buzzard]

I too rang VA today to cancel my Friday SYD flight. Surprisingly I waited only a few minutes to have my call answered (hello QF) by a very friendly and helpful agent.
She offered to change the dates of my flights or arrange for a credit.
I opted for the credit and was told Amex will be in touch in about 4 weeks.

 

[MH_fan]

Used one of my free Amex flights for flights to BNE in early Jan but had to cancel them because of border closures. Was told by VA at the time they'd be re-credited and processed for use again by Amex in about 4 weeks. 6 weeks later and still nothing... Anyone else finding that it's taking much longer than the 4 weeks for the flights to be used again?

 

[blackcat20]

Used one of my free Amex flights for flights to BNE in early Jan but had to cancel them because of border closures. Was told by VA at the time they'd be re-credited and processed for use again by Amex in about 4 weeks. 6 weeks later and still nothing... Anyone else finding that it's taking much longer than the 4 weeks for the flights to be used again?

Ours took over 6 months, but that was exacerbated by the issues at VA. No harm chasing it up.

 

[MH_fan]

Amex finally processed the cancelled free flights and they're now available to book again. It took 7 weeks (not the supposed 4).